Improvement in elastic soles and horseshoes



T.'B. BISHOP.

v ELASTIC SOLE AND HQRSESHQE. No.176, 733. Patented May 2,1876.

Wig-7265668: [3067260]? N- PETERS. PNOTO-LITHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON. D Cv UNITED STATES.

PAT NT Orr-Ion THOMASB. BISHOP, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN ELASTIC SOLES AND HORSE SHOES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N 0; [76,733, dated May 2, 1876'; application filed January 17, 1876. t

- To all-whom it may concern Be it known that I, THOMAS B. BISHOP, of Washington city, in the county of Washington and District of Columbia, have invented .a new and Elastic Sole and Shoe for Horses Feet; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompan yin g drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which Figure l is a top .view of my improved horseshoe with the elastic sole removed, and Fig. 2 is a top viewot' the elastic sole with its bottom face uppermost. A

The object of my invention is to prevent injury to the sensitive parts of horses feet, and thus avoid diseases which arise from this cause, by i-uterposiug between the sole of the foot and the shoe a cushion of indiarubber, which will afford an elastic bearing to the foot, allow a natural expansion thereof, the frog of the foot being covered to-pretect it from injurious contact with hard substances, and to prevent balling with snow or soft earth,

and at the same time to make the iron shoe as light, and that part of it which comes in con.

tact with the horses hoof as narrow, aspossible, so that the shoe willbe in'eft'ect a close resemblanceto a shoe made entirely of indiarubber, the latter being made to extend near- 1y overthe entire sole of the foot, the iron being employed mainly as a means of supporting the elastic sole and attaching it to the foot.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

. In 'the accompanyingdrawings, A (see Fig.

1) represents my improved horseshoe, that cutout of the flange, leaving projections a a .for the support of the elastic sole.

The flange B and its projections a a are made as thin as possible, consistent with their function of supporting the elastic sole, so as to render the shoe as light as possible, the main object of my invention being to approach as near as possible an entire rubber shoe, the iron shoe being employed merely as an instrument to support the elastic sole, and as a means of attaching it to the horses foot.

(J represents the elastic sole, made preferably of vulcanized rubber, which can be made of the proper form by means of molds in the usual manner of manufacturing rubber articles. The'elastic cushion or sole consists of a thin marginal web, which is interposed between the sole of the foot and the thin flanges I a a, the entire top surface of the elastic sole being in contact with the sole of the horses foot. Recesses c c are made in the thick por- N ber forming an artificial frog, projecting, preferably, below the face of the iron shoe.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The iron shoe A, provided with a thin continuous flange, extending inwardly entirely around said shoe,'and depressed below its upper face A, and having a continuous shoulder, e,'recesses b b, and projections ea, in combination with the elastic sole 0, having a continuous marginal web extending entirely around said sole, and provided with recesses c c and projections d 01, substantially as described and for the purpose set forth.

THOMAS E. BISHOP.

Witnesses HUBERT HowsoN, FRANK MUNDY. 

